Dental massage and polishing appliance



C. W. FULLER.

DENTAL MASSAGE AND POLISHING APPLIANCE.

APPLICATION FILED IAN.27! 1920.

Patented June 15, 1920.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CLARENCE w. FULLER,

OF YONKERS,

NEW YORK.

DENTAL MASSAGE AND POLISHING APPLIANCE.

. -&-

Application filed January 27. 1920. Serial No. 354,440.

T all ((ILOl/L it may concern.

1 Be it known that I, (LAnENcE IV. FULLER, alcitizen of the UnitedStates of America, re s'iding at Yonkers, New York, have invented a newand useful Dental Massage and Polishing Appliance, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to a new and improved appliance for massaging thegums and polishing the teeth. It is a well known fact that in thetreatment of Riggs disease, it is essential to stimulate the circulationin the gums and this can not be accomplished save by some special meansother than a tooth brush. Sometimes the bare finger is employed for thatpurpose, but with only indifferent success. I have devised a means bywhich the finger may be used for this purpose but with an appliancethereon specially designed to excite the desired circulation withoutinjury to the tissues. At the same time, the appliance may be used toeffectively clean and polish the teeth.

I have shown my invention in only its preferred form.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective View of the human finger with the appliancethereon.

Fig. 2 is a. plan view of the dei'ice by itself.

r Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of "Fig. 2.

l represents the main body of the finger piece which is made. of fabricresembling generally a pile fabric in which the rough surface is on theoutside. This finger piece is open on the back or top and has a closedtip into which the tip of the finger fits. 2 is an elastic insert on theback of the tip which causes the said tip to snugly fit the end of thelinger. I is an elastic strip connecting the opposite edges of the bodyI. at or near the rear end. -l represents an internal lining for thebottom of the main body arranged to rest inside of the finger. Thislining is preferably made from such material as oiled silk and issuitably connected at its side edges to the body 1. Between the lining 4and the adjacent part of the body 1 is a pocket into which may beinserted suitable tooth powder. 5-5 represent small outlets in the mainbody 1 through which the powder may polishing the teeth when the deviceis to be used for that purpose. It will be seen that when the device isslipped on to the finger the outer side of the finger is partiallyuncovered. which I find is desirable in that the device occupies lessroom in the mouth between the gum and the cheek. When the device isplaced on the finger, the finger may be introduced into the mouth in theusual way and the outer or roughened surface of the said finger 6 may.be rubbed vigorously on the gums to excite circulation, at the same timewithout danger of injury thereto. hen the device is to be used as atooth polishing device, a tooth powder may be introduced into the pocketas aforesaid and will work outwardly by the pressure of the finger onthe lining 4 passing either through the openings 55 or through the poresof the fabric. Indeed, it may be found that special openings 5-5 may beomitted since the mesh of the fabric itself may be sufficiently open topermit the powder to work through when pressure is applied.

IVhat I claim is:

l. A dental massage and polishing appliance comprising, a fabric fingerpiece open at the back and provided with elastic contracting means, theouter surface of said fabric finger piece being relatively rough for thepurpose described. a water-proof lining on the inside of the fingerpiece in position to be engaged by the inside of the finger when thesame is in use.

2. A dental massage and polishing appliance comprising, a fabric fingerpiece open at the back and provided with spaced elastic contractingmeans at the tip and at the rear. the exposed surface of said fingerpiece being relatively rough for the purpose described.

CLARENC E \V. FULLER.

pass during the operation of'

